Everything That Ever Matters
by in my ocean
Summary: ONESHOT – One sleepless night, a terrible nightmare, and a certain hanyou – that’s all that is needed to have Kagome realize that caring doesn’t need great gestures to be shown, that trust doesn’t need words to exist, and that contentment actual


_A/N: Okies, yet another one! This fic originally came to my mind when I had a fierce argument with my brother. Well, at least he is good for something, be it only for giving me ideas... _::puts up "I-am-doomed-to-have-a-brother-God-really-must-hate-me"-look::

_The story takes place anytime shortly after the discovery of the Kaze no Kizu, but before the overdramatic stuff with Inu-chan and Kags – well, the whole Kikyou-thingie about love, rejection, heartache and stuff (it's rather clear later on in the story how much their feelings towards each other have already developed). Some OOC-ness is in it, though. Take this as a warning. So then, Ladies and Gentlemen, lean back in your seat and enjoy! _

_Summary: One sleepless night, a terrible nightmare, and a certain hanyou – that's all that is needed to have Kagome realize that caring doesn't need great gestures to be shown, that trust doesn't need words to exist, and that contentment actually isn't that hard to achieve._

_Disclaimer: And again... _::runs tiredly a hand over her face::_ I don't own him, have never, will never. _::sighs::_ That's it._

**Everything That Ever Matters**

Everything was in a blur. Screams, noises, sound of battle, everything wrapped in a thick gray haze. Flickering fire here and there. Hot and hissing, red tongues of hell. Smoke. It stung to the eyes and made it hard to breathe. Kagome stumbled on the uneven ground and nearly fell. Her limbs felt heavy and she barely could see anything. The demon they were fighting had poured out a poisonous gas that paralyzed its enemy's body and senses. Where were the others? She was well aware of the dangers of standing right in the middle of a battlefield without knowing what was going on around her; nonetheless, Kagome blinked a few times looking for her companions, but she couldn't find any trace of them due to the fog created by the demonic gas, heavy smoke and her weakened eyesight. Suddenly she heard someone scream her name and she instinctively dropped to the ground for protection, just as a blur of red appeared in front of her. A scream, blending bright light. She shut her eyes tightly and pressed herself harder to the ground when she felt an enormous wave of youki appear and wash over her. There were a few moments of screams and deafening noise, then there was silence.

Blinking, the girl opened her eyes and stumbled to her feet. Her limbs felt numb, her knees almost giving in when she stood up, and her senses were dull, but they were already regenerating again. She straightened and looked around in the battlefield. The smoke had started to clear up so only loose thick clouds were left and the poisonous gas slowly dissipated. Kagome could see five large craters in the earth to her feet, created by Inuyasha's Kaze no Kizu. But where was Inuyasha? She peered around and let out a sigh of relief when something red caught her eye. Soon enough, Inuyasha stepped out from behind a thick strand of smoke, balancing the transformed Tessaiga casually on his shoulder. He looked a bit pale from the poison and smoke he had breathed in, but otherwise seemed unharmed. His usual smirk – Kagome used to call it the "winning smirk" – graced his lips. So the demon was defeated – not that she had doubted the outcome of the battle at any time. Fighting demons had become an almost daily activity to the group, and they usually had no difficulties in defeating their enemy. Though, she had to admit, this demon had been exceptionally powerful.

"You okay, wench?" Inuyasha asked when he reached her. Kagome nodded, too tired and exhausted to complain as usual about the insult he had addressed her with. She looked around in search of the Shikon shards the demon had possessed while the hanyou went to find the others. Kagome's eyes caught a glimpse of something brightly shining, for her trained eyes easily to be recognized as the shards she had been looking for, and she made her way to them. Soon, the pieces of the Tama blinked in the palm of her hand. Six shards. No wonder the demon had been that powerful. Silently she caught up with her traveling companions who waited for her at the line of the battlefield. The group turned around and they headed towards the nearby forest, quiet from exhaustion, neither one of them looking back. Battlefields weren't a nice sight for either of them, and they definitely could do without seeing them.

Shortly after, night was starting to fall and everyone agreed to stop and settle for the night. They found a small clearing, and everyone just stumbled to his bed tiredly, not even bothering to build up a fire or make something to eat. Soon, silence had fallen over their small camp, and everyone was fast asleep.

She couldn't breathe. She struggled to get air into her lungs, and they filled with thick smoke and something ugly tasting. She clasped her hands over her mouth and coughed fiercely. The smoke stung to her eyes and made them water. Narrowing them to small slits, she looked around, but couldn't see much through the thick gray haze. Where were the others? She stumbled around blindly. _'I have to find them!'_ Her breath rasped in her chest from the lack of oxygen. She frantically gasped for breath and coughed hardly. _'Have to get out of here!'_ She coughed again and held her chest, nearly falling to her knees from the pain this action caused. The others! She called them frantically between harsh coughs, but her voice just died away in the thick smoke. Panic rose in her chest. She called their names again, stumbling and nearly falling as she ran blindly through the fog. Her heartbeat thundered in her chest. Suddenly, her ears caught a dangerous growl rumbling behind her and she drove around. She gasped and her eyes widened in pure terror when she looked directly into two dangerously blazing red eyes. A soundless scream emitted her lips as she stumbled backwards. The demon from earlier! _'But he is– Inuyasha has–'_ Every rational thought was blown from her mind when the attacker neared her, his growls and hisses becoming louder and more threatening. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears and she backed away in terror. Suddenly she stumbled and fell backwards. She hit the ground hard and cried out in pain and fear. Everything seemed to happen at a furious rate. The demon jumped. He was over her, his eyes burning. She could feel the wind from his snapping teeth. Her arms went up to cover her face. She screamed...–

Kagome awoke with a start, breathing heavily, her clothes clinging to her body from the cold sheet of sweat that covered her skin. One shaking hand pressed to her heart to calm its fierce pounding. Taking deep breaths to calm herself, she slowly sat up. Hopefully she hadn't screamed out loud in her sleep. She looked around in the camp. Everyone seemed quiet and sound asleep. Good, she hadn't awoken them. She settled back into her sleeping bag, but not going back to sleep. She didn't dare to close her eyes out of fear of seeing again the horrible images of her nightmare. Her fists grabbed the fabric of her sleeping bag. This dream had just been so real! She could almost taste the smoke in her mouth. Kagome forced herself to relax. It was over now. It had been just a nightmare. A terrible at that, but still only imagination.

The girl sighed and looked up to the sky. She didn't expect to get any sleep tonight anymore. Not when she thought that there monsters hidden behind every bush that only waited for her to close her eyes so that they could attack the camp. She lowly laughed humorlessly. What a coward she was! Fearlessly fighting terrible demons almost every day and then not daring to sleep because of one simple nightmare! Something definitely wasn't right with her head... Demons in the undergrowth – with Inuyasha around! –, monsters hidden in the closet, pink elephants flying across the sky...– ridiculous! She tried to give a light-hearted laugh, but it sounded more like a nervous exhale of breath, even to her own ears. She wasn't afraid, was she?

She determinedly pushed every such thought off of her mind and stared upwards. Twinkling stars could be seen through the thin foliage above her. Beams of silver moonlight filtered through the rustling leaves, illuminating the forest with a pale, silent glow. Kagome slightly turned her head to watch the camp. They were all sound asleep. She smiled when her eyes fell upon Shippo and Kirara. The two little youkai were tightly cuddled together, looking like one big mass of fur. She giggled as one of Kirara's tails tickled the Kitsune's nose and he wrinkled his nose in the most adorable manner, before returning to his deep slumber. Kagome watched the two of them a little longer, proud like a mother of her little children. Well, since Shippo's parents were dead, she _was_ his mother, and she definitely loved him as if he was her own.

Her dreamy gaze slowly drifted over to Miroku and Sango who were lying a few feet away from the two little youkai. She grinned. They must have had shifted in their sleep, because now they were lying only about one meter apart from each other instead of the at least two meter distance Sango used to keep from the hentai monk in protection of her ass. Kagome's grin widened. They really did like each other, they just wouldn't admit it. Oh well, _Sango_ wouldn't admit it; Miroku did it all the time – just with the wrong means. If he could just keep his hands by himself! Then he would actually stand a chance. But knowing the monk, he was a pervert through and through. Even now, in his sleep, his gloved hand twitched restlessly – from trying to sneak its way to Sango's backside with a will of its own, or from a dream Kagome didn't even _want_ to imagine what it was about, she wasn't sure, but it only confirmed her thesis that the monk's hentai ways had themselves burnt into his entire being to the very core. Once, she even had a rather interesting conversation with Inuyasha – who usually hadn't much left for small talk – about the monk and his special treatment he gave every a bit nicer looking young woman that happened to cross his way. They had come to the agreement that their friend was absolutely hopeless. Some things simply never changed...

At the thought of Inuyasha, Kagome's eyes slowly wandered to the sleeping form of the hanyou. As usual, he rested on the branch directly above her sleeping bag. _'Why he keeps on doing this?'_ Kagome wondered to herself. _'Such a cute gesture?'_ It was not exactly like Inuyasha was known for his caring and friendly attitude towards people... Rather the complete opposite. Rude, obnoxious, arrogant, insulting, stubborn to the core – that was what he was. But Kagome had long ago seen through his cold exterior. On the outside, he might be uncaring and acting like nothing could ever harm him, but inside, he had a soft core and harbored deep feelings for the world and people around him.

'_He really could show them more often!'_ the girl thought slightly frustrated, '_He always gets everything screwed up! There we get into a nice situation where we actually can act like friends without our constant fighting, and he always anyhow ruins it with one of his insulting comments or his mean behavior! And we are at it again. He calls me names, I scream at him, he screams back, I sit him, he curses me, I jump into the well – it's always the same.'_ Her eyes softened when they shifted back to said hanyou resting in the tree. He might be a total jerk sometimes, but Kagome had come to know his ways, his harsh demeanor as well as his friendliness and his caring soul, and she cared for him dearly. No way on earth would she want to trade _her_ Inuyasha! She giggled. She sounded almost like a schoolgirl speaking of her dearest! Or of her sweet little lapdog...

Kagome's grin widened. Sometimes, he had this really sweet look on his face with his ears drooping slightly, giving him involuntary the look of a lost puppy. She had to suppress the urge to reach out and scratch his ears every time he looked like this.

'_Inuyasha would kill me if I did!'_ That was probably the truth, but it couldn't stop her wistful thinking of rubbing his ears. The small furry triangles were just too tempting! She giggled quietly. Not that she didn't like other parts of him besides his adorable ears, too! She looked up at him again. Pure white hair that gleamed in the moonlight, strikingly handsome features, and his body, oh well... And then his eyes! Fascinating bright pools of molten honey, like golden sunlight, expressionless and so full of emotions at the same time. When she looked into them, she just wanted to stare in awe, or melt right then and there. Kagome laughed lightly. She really had a strange obsession for the half demon! And who could blame her? Despite his rude appearance he really was a jewel! Caring and protective, strong and determined, gentle and loving. She sighed dreamily. Okay, maybe she HAD a slight crush on him! Though she'd never admit it in front of anyone...

She studied his features more closely. He seemed so innocent in his sleep! No one would have ever guessed that he was such a strong and fierce fighter, or so bad-tempered and ignorant while awake! Kagome still couldn't imagine him as a full-blooded demon, uncaring and bloodthirsty, although she had seen him like that in occasions. For her, he would always be the gentle and loving hanyou she had come to know along their journey.

Unconsciously, her hand reached up to her neck to fondle the big shard of the Shikon no Tama that hung from her neck on a small chain. What would he do once the jewel was whole again and Naraku was defeated? She could somehow understand his wish to become full demon. She had met Jinenji, and had seen the way he was treated by those villagers. She had heard Inuyasha's words then, and she had understood. When there was nowhere you could go because you didn't belong to either side, neither human nor demon, what could you probably do? And she had realized that Inuyasha didn't want to become full demon because he wanted to be stronger, or because he hated his human heritage, but only for the simple reason of having a place in this world and somewhere he belonged. Yes, then she had understood, and she was willing to do everything to help him. But what would become of her then? Would there be a place for _her_ anymore? It was hard to imagine a life only in her own time, and to leave her friends and companions back here. She sighed and thanked the gods that they still had plenty of work to do until the Tama would be whole again. She had time... and she sure as hell would enjoy it! There were demons, there was danger, there was death looming behind every corner, but she was happy. She was happy to have such great friends here, and she was glad to be able to spent time with them, despite all the dangers this era harbored. And so she would stay here. _'Not that Inuyasha would have let me go without having completed the Shikon no Tama first...'_ She chuckled slightly. _'Stubborn bastard'_ Still grinning inwardly, her eyes searched the form of the hanyou again. He sure as hell was the cutest stubborn bastard she had ever known! She looked up to his handsome face – and met his open eyes.

Kagome tried hard to stifle a surprised gasp and immediately blushed a deep crimson that – thank God – wasn't so obvious as it was night, feeling caught by thinking of him in _that_ way. She didn't know if he had noticed her being awake, as he didn't show any hint of acknowledging her. When she realized that he probably didn't even look at her, although he had his shadowed eyes turned in her direction, she slowly relaxed again. Though the embarrassed heat was still tingling in her face. If he would have noticed her staring at him and would have been able to read her thoughts and emotions on her face and eyes – he had told her often enough that her face was like an open book to those who understood to read it, and he sure enough was – that would have been just too embarrassing! She suppressed the urge to clasp her hands over her face and roll up into a small ball by just thinking about this humiliating situation. And of course it didn't help the heat in her cheeks to go away...

She cautiously peeked up to him again from the corner of her eyes. He still didn't seem to notice her. She furrowed her brows in confusion. What might occupy him so much that he not even noticed her being awake? Usually he knew when she was awake before even she herself knew! That certainly was strange... She studied his eyes closer. They were still held on her, but they were glazed and didn't seem to see anything, at least nothing that was on the _outside_. They were veiled in shadows now, dark and seemingly of endless depth. It almost gave her the creeps when she tried to see anything within them. Kagome still couldn't imagine what might be on his mind. It was completely unlike him to zone out like that. Sure, he sometimes – rather often lately – sat anywhere in the landscape and seemed deep in thought, but at night when he had slept before, and then so completely lost in thought that he didn't even notice her, that was weird. She could hear the faint voice of concern in the back of her mind. She quickly scolded herself. It wasn't her to be concerned when Inuyasha was acting strange. Besides, she knew he didn't want her to be concerned, or worried, or anything.

A nearby bush rustled ominously, and Kagome nearly let out a small fearful scream, being suddenly reminded of her nightmare earlier this night. She felt like having a déjà vu when she pressed her hand to her heart to stop its thundering beating. She almost let out a sharp laugh. She should be more concerned about her own state of mind rather than Inuyasha's! Almost freaking out just because a bush rustled in the wind! Still she felt a shiver run up and down her spine at the thought of two blood red eyes watching her from behind. Before she could stop herself, she had turned her head to peek behind her, but immediately turned around again when she – of course – didn't see a thing there, growling angry at herself. _'You are slowly going nuts, girl! There isn't anything, so stop acting like a little child and CALM DOWN ALREADY!!'_ Kagome shuddered and tried to shake off the scared feeling that made her stomach clench. It had only been the wind that rushed through the forest. Only the wind. She shuddered again and rubbed her arms to stop the cold chill that went through her body. And it was not exactly from coldness... _'Okay, girl, take a deep breath and try to calm down! You're safe here! Inuyasha... Inuyasha's here. There isn't anywhere you could probably be any safer!'_ Kagome let out shuddering breath and snuggled deeper into her sleeping bag. A small breeze blew around her. Yes, it had only been the wind. Only the wind...

Kagome forced herself to close her eyes and breathe calmly. Blackness, whispers in the wind, rustles in the undergrowth. She reluctantly opened them again. Maybe that hadn't been such a good idea... She sighed. Sleep was obviously an impossible option for her tonight. She unconsciously looked back up to Inuyasha – no wonder, considering he still was directly above her – to maybe calm down with the sight of him. And found him staring back at her. Chills ran down her spine. His eyes were alive again, and this time she was sure he was really looking at her. Slowly, the first shock ebbed away and she began to relax. But she still couldn't take her eyes off him. What was up with him? He made no move, just stared down, his expression unreadable. Kagome started to feel uncomfortable, and looked up at him questioningly.

"Inuyasha?" She whispered almost inaudibly. What was wrong with him? He seemed to have heard her, because his brows furrowed suddenly. By the look in his face, she expected him to hiss at her by now to go to sleep so that she would be fresh in the morning to seek his precious Shikon shards, but was oddly surprised that he still didn't utter a word. She was about to ask him what was the matter with him as a sudden movement in the bushes made her start again. Her fists unconsciously fastened on her sleeping bag and she closed her eyes, telling herself for about the thousandth time this night that there weren't any monsters hidden behind every bush or tree. She opened her eyes again and noticed Inuyasha looking down at her with a frown.

'_Great'_, she thought, _'now he has another thing to mock me with in the morning.'_ She furrowed her brows angrily. He was such a jerk sometimes! Treating her as if she was dumb and weak, or as if she was the last person on this planet he wanted to have to do with. And then always this wench-thing! Kagome sometimes thought she could count the times he had called her with her real name on the fingers of one hand, although she knew well that it had happened more often than this. Inconsiderate, arrogant, stupid, stupid baka! He made her so angry sometimes! She balled her fists and prepared herself for the hushed argument that was to come.

The hanyou above frowned at her once more before looking around and searching for the source of why she had been so scared before. He sniffed the air peered around for any sign of danger. His frown deepened when he obviously didn't find anything. Kagome inwardly counted down the seconds to when he would start their fighting. Six...five...four... She didn't come to end her counting as her ears caught a nearby rustle and she flinched again. Just great...

Her gaze snapped upwards when she caught a movement there. Inuyasha had halfway risen from his sitting position and now hopped down from his perch. Kagome's eyes followed the form of the hanyou as he descended gracefully towards her, almost as if he was flying, his long hair floating behind him, and landed softly on the forest floor with hardly any sound. She eyed him warily and felt a bit awkward as he stood there in front of her and looked down at her. She couldn't decide whether to be scared by the almost menacing way in which he towered over her, or feeling relaxed because this was after all Inuyasha and he would never do any harm to her.

Flashes of her nightmare entered her mind again, and she cursed inwardly to cover the sudden shudder that raced through her body. Was she always this cowardly or was it just today? It had been a long time since her last serious nightmare after a battle, and to hold the truth, that it had happened tonight had quite put her out. Usually she felt rather safe here, but now...

Kagome turned her head again towards the hanyou, and found him kneeling down beside her sleeping bag. She flinched in surprise. She hadn't noticed him coming closer. He gave her a small, somewhat reassuring smile and slowly lifted one hand to swipe the hair out of her face. Her eyes widened slightly. She hadn't expected this turn of events at all.

His hand slowly moved and gently caressed her cheek to soothe her idly lying nerves. Kagome slowly relaxed under his soothing hand. She hadn't even realized that she had been this tense.

Questioningly, curious by his strange actions, she stared at him. His eyes now were a pale gold in the moonlight, and although his face remained expressionless, these eyes smiled at her lovingly, glowing warmly. They seemed to reassure her, soothe her, as if wanting to say, _"Don't be afraid... I am here, I will protect you..."_. And she believed him, treasuring his unspoken words and giving him back her own unconditional trust for it.

With a small content sigh, she closed her eyes, covering his large hand on her cheek with her smaller one, and nuzzled her face into his warm palm. Now that she could relax, she felt sleepy all of a sudden. She felt Inuyasha's thumb caressing her cheek, and she slowly drifted away into a peaceful slumber. Nothing would harm her, she was safe, she didn't have to be afraid. She was with him, and he would always protect her... In her sleep-disguised state just on the brink to unconsciousness, she faintly noticed him leaning down and pressing a gentle kiss on her forehead. She smiled faintly in response and finally drifted off to the land of dreams, one last thought on her mind.

'_I am safe...'_

When she awoke, she was alone again, and bright beams of bright morning sunlight filtered through the lush leaves, illuminating the forest and making it glow almost magically. Kagome sat up and stretched her limbs, yawning widely, before looking up to the hanyou who once more sat on his branch above her, and smiled at him brightly to greet him good morning. It was their morning routine, and Inuyasha flashed her his own short grin in response to her smile, as no one else but them was awake yet and thus couldn't see his display of "weakness". Kagome inwardly frowned at this, but was entirely content with his response nonetheless. Quietly she got up and started to light a fire to cook breakfast. Inuyasha hopped down from his perch and went over to stand beside her.

"What's up for breakfast, wench?", his gruff voice broke the silence. When a small fire happily flickered under her hands, Kagome turned around and gave him a warm smile.

"What about some ramen?" Her smile widened and she giggled inwardly when his eyes immediately lit up at the mention of his favorite food. "Okay, then it is ramen", she said cheerily. He just gave an indifferent shrug and growled under his breath.

"Feh, whatever you want, wench." She was not fooled by his gruff words or he insult he once more had her addressed her with, the memory of last night still lingering clearly in her mind. He remembered it as well, she saw it in his eyes. They still held some of the warmth of last night in them as well as the awareness of his promise to protect her. Kagome smiled again and started making the noodles. He cared and would be there for her and protect her with his life. He didn't have to speak it out loud, or wove it to her solemnly; she was content with the knowledge of it, even if he didn't tell her and probably never would. She was content as long as she knew that he would be there.

Humming slightly to herself, Kagome attended to her chores. She noticed Inuyasha sitting beside her near the small fire and she endowed him with another smile. She was happy and she was content, and she could sense Inuyasha feeling at ease, too, even a bit happy, and that was everything that mattered. Peace. Happiness. Friendship. Trust. That was everything that ever mattered.

_**END**_

_A/N: It is rather obvious that fell from one cliffhanger another other while writing this fic, isn't it? Oh dear..._::sighs heavily::_ Yes, it is... Would explain the acute lack of a plot and why Inu was that OOC and Kags that much of a coward... Sorry about that – I personally do not think Kagome is a coward, but somehow it fit in the story and it is no crime to be a bit scared after an exceptional evil nightmare and with HORDS OF DEMONS AROUND!!!_

_Okies, now, what do you think of it? Boring? Tiring? I know, there's nothing great of a plot or something, but it was fun to write! Slobbering over Inu is always fun! _::giggles::_ Yeah, Inu-baby definitely was OOC in this fic (like probably in all my fics..._::grins innocently::_), though it could have been worse. Hope you don't mind..._

_Yes, I'll stop my rambling now. And yooooou......_::points a finger at the readers and glares at them::_ Review, will you? I really need to know what you think about it! Feel free to flame, just not too harshly, please. Just review! Well... that's it!_

_Lovies!_


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